Offender Management statistics quarterly, England and Wales Quarter: January to March 2017, Prison population: 30 June 2017

1. Main points

The prison population has been relatively stable for the past five years. This differs to the increasing prison population trend that was observed between the 1950's and early 2000's (see Figure 1). Our most recent extracts indicate that there were:

- **85,863 prisoners in England and Wales as at 30 June 2017**

  - There was a slight (1%) increase in the total prison population, compared to the same point in the previous year.

- **35,517 admissions of which 21,357 were first receptions into prison in the latest quarter**

  - Admissions have increased by 3% on the previous quarter, and decreased by 5% on the same quarter last year. First receptions have increased by 3% on the previous quarter and decreased by 3% on the same quarter last year.

- **47,707 adjudication outcomes in the last quarter**

  - This is an increase of 16% on the same quarter of the previous year. A total of 5,163 additional days were added to prisoner’s sentences.

- **268,062 offenders on probation as at 31 March 2017**

  - The number of offenders on probation at the end of March 2017 was 7% higher than the same point in the previous year.

- **5,347 offenders recalled to prison in the latest quarter**

  - This is a 1% increase on the previous quarter and a 3% increase compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

- **17,703 releases of which 17,440 were from determinate sentences in the last quarter**

  - The number of releases has remained relatively stable with a slight decrease of 1% compared with the same point in the previous year.

This publication gives offender management statistics for the latest date available and provides comparison with fixed points of time in the previous year. For full and detailed commentary which looks into longer term trends, please refer to the annual publication, published in July, and ‘The Story of the Prison Population: 1993 - 2016’. For technical detail please refer to the accompanying guide, ‘Guide to offender management statistics’.

We are changing how our quarterly bulletins look, and would welcome any feedback to commentary.champions@justice.gsi.gov.uk For other feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk 2. Prison Population

The prison population stood at 85,863 on 30 June 2017.

The sentenced prison population stood at 74,803 (87%); the remand prison population stood at 9,638 (11%) and the non-criminal prison population stood at 1,422 (2%).

Figure 1: Prison population, 30 June 1997 to 2017 (Source: Table 1.1)

Remand

The remand population is 4% (350) higher than the same point 12 months earlier. The number of males remanded in custody increased by 3% (to 9,067) whilst the number of females increased by 9% (to 571).

More than half (52%) of those remanded in custody were being held for either:

Violence Against the Person (VATP; 22% of those on remand), Theft Offences (15%) or Drug Offences (15%).

Sentenced

In line with the long term trend, the sentenced population has increased by 1% in the year leading up to 30 June 2017. Figure 1 shows that the total prison population has increased in line with the growth of the sentenced prison population. Broadly speaking, there have been decreases in the number of prisoners serving determinate sentences of less than 4 years, except for those serving sentences of 6 months or less which increased by 5%, and increases in those serving determinate sentences of 4 years or longer. The number of prisoners serving sentences of 14 years or more has increased by 9% (to 3,683) in the 12 months prior to the 30th June, 2017. Sex offenders

The rise in the long determinate sentenced population is in line with the increasing number of sentenced sex offenders; as at 30 June 2017 there were 13,324 prisoners serving sentences for sexual offences, which represented 16% of the total prison population. The number of prisoners serving immediate custodial sentences for sexual offences is now at its highest level since at least 2002. This is consistent with the latest ONS ‘Crime in England and Wales’ bulletin which reports on the number of sexual offences recorded by the police in the year ending June 2016.

‘Violence Against the Person (VATP)’ and 'Possession of Weapons' offences

One in every four sentenced prisoners is in prison for a VATP offence. This proportion has remained stable for the past 12 months. The number of those sentenced to a 'Possession of Weapons' offence increased by 12% (to 2,390) compared to the same time last year. This substantial increase can be attributed to a range of factors, including more targeted police operations against knife crime. However this offence group only accounts for 3% of the prison population.

Extended Determinate Sentences (EDS)

EDSs were made available for courts to impose from 13 April 2015 and on 30 June 2017, 3,824 prisoners were serving such sentences; a 6% increase compared to the previous quarter and a 30% increase compared to the same time last year.

Indeterminate sentences

As at 30 June 2017, there were 10,600 (10,247 male; 353 female) indeterminate sentenced prisoners (those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences and life sentences) in the prison population. This represents an annual decrease of 7%.

There were 3,353 IPP prisoners as at 30 June 2017 which represents a decrease of 16% in the last 12 months. This figure has fallen by 45% since the June 2012 peak of 6,080, however the number of IPP prisoners who have been recalled to custody continues to increase; in the past year the recalled IPP population has grown by 22% (to 760).

The proportion of the IPP population who are post-tariff continues to increase; 85% of IPP prisoners were post-tariff as of 30 June 2017 compared to 82% at the same time the previous year.

The number of life sentenced prisoners (7,247) has decreased by 2% compared to 30 June 2016. There were 59 whole-life prisoners at the end of June 2017, with 4 additional life prisoners being treated in secure hospitals.

Recall to custody

The prison population who have been recalled to custody (6,390 prisoners) decreased slightly by 3% over the year leading up to 30 June 2017. On this date, there were 1,148 prisoners recorded as being in custody following a recall under the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (ORA); representing 18% of the total recall population.

Foreign National Offenders (FNOs)

There were 9,756 (1,633 remand, 6,792 sentenced and 1,331 non-criminal) foreign nationals held in custody and HMPPS-operated Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) as at 30 June 2017; representing 11% of the total prison population. The number of FNOs in the prison (and HMPPS IRC) population has slightly decreased by 1% compared to 30 June 2016. The most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons are Polish (911), Irish (772), Albanian (649), Romanian (607) and Jamaican (528). 3. Prison receptions and admissions

In total there were 35,517 admissions to custody in the latest quarter.

13,381 remand admissions, 16,870 sentenced admissions, 5,213 recall admissions and 53 non-criminal admissions.

21,357 offenders were received into custody as first receptions in the latest quarter.

10,736 remand first receptions, 10,571 sentenced first receptions and 50 civil non-criminal first receptions.

The number of first receptions increased by 3% on the previous quarter, however there has been a 3% decrease in the number of first receptions compared with the same quarter in 2016.

There was a 6% decrease in the number of untried admissions (to 8,247), a 13% decrease in the number of convicted unsentenced admissions (to 5,134) and a 3% decrease in the number of sentenced admissions (to 16,870) compared with the same quarter in 2016.

Adult (aged 21+) remand admissions have decreased by 10% and young adult (18-20 year olds) remand admissions have decreased by 3%. Adult sentenced admissions have decreased by 3% and young adult sentenced admissions have decreased by 11%, compared with the same quarter last year.

Half of all sentenced admissions during the quarter were for sentences of six months or less (7,737, 46% of sentenced admissions). This sentence length band has seen a 5% decrease in the number of admissions when compared with the same quarter last year. In contrast there have been increases in the number of admissions of offenders with determinate sentence lengths of greater than 6 months to less than twelve months (14%) and four years or more (4%), when compared with the same quarter last year.

By comparing this quarter with the corresponding quarter in 2016 it can be seen that sentenced admissions for Theft offences and Violence against the person decreased by 4% and 6% respectively, however, the number of sentenced admissions for Sexual Offences and for Possession of Weapons have both increased by 10% compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

Former members of the Armed Forces

Former members of the Armed Forces accounted for 495 of the matched first receptions for January to March, 2017. This accounts for approximately 3% of offenders who responded to the question asked, which has been at the same level of response for the four previous quarters.

4. Adjudications

There were 47,707 adjudication outcomes in the latest quarter.

64% of these adjudications were proven. More than one in three (35%) of proven adjudications were for offences of disobedience or disrespect; the number of proven disobedience offences increased by 5% on the same quarter of the previous year. In contrast, the total number of proven adjudications increased by 12% over the same time period, predominantly due to a 44% increase in proven adjudications for unauthorized transactions.

Violence was the third recorded type of offence (13% of all proven adjudications) with assault against staff accounting for 2%

There were 5,163 additional days added as punishments for offences committed by prisoners in the quarter ending March, 2017. The average number of punishments per offence was 1.71. This is broadly consistent with figures seen in the previous quarter.

5. Releases

17,703 offenders were released from custody in the latest quarter.

17,440 releases from determinate sentences and 263 from indeterminate sentences.

Prison releases from custodial sentences

Whilst the total number of releases during the quarter ending March 2017 represents a 1% decrease compared to the same quarter in 2016, there was a 14% increase in the number of releases of offenders serving determinate sentences of greater than 6 months to less than 12 months in length.

There were 263 releases from indeterminate sentences between January and March 2017, a 13% increase from the same period in 2016. The majority (153) were offenders released from IPP sentences.

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

2,312 offenders were released on HDC during the latest quarter.

The number of HDC releases increased by 8% compared to the same quarter in 2016 to 2,312.

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

There were 83,740 incidences of ROTL during the quarter ending March 2017, this is a 10% increase on the same quarter last year.

Compared to the quarter ending March 2016, the number of ROTL incidences was unchanged at 0% for females and increased by 11% for males. During the latest quarter there were 6,931 incidences of ROTL for females, this is the highest quarterly figure for more than two years. The number of individuals given at least one incidence of ROTL between January and March 2017 was 4,019, which represents an increase of 13% since the same quarter of the previous year.

There were 50 recorded Temporary Release Failures (TRFs) between January and March 2017. This is a decrease of 13 compared with the previous quarter and an increase of 18 compared with the same period the previous year. TRFs as a proportion of temporary release incidences remain at a low level, with approximately only 1 in every 1,700 incidences of temporary release resulting in a failure between January and March 2017.

Prisoner transfers There were a total of 23,731 recorded incidences of prisoner transfer during the latest quarter. The majority of these (69%) were routine inter-prison transfers; 197 (1%) incidences of transfer were a result of overcrowding drafts.

19,322 prisoners had at least one incidence of transfer in quarter ending March.

6. Probation

The total number of offenders on probation was 268,062 at the end of March, 2017.

This was a 7% increase in the total probation caseload (court orders and pre- and post-release supervision) compared with 31 March 2016.

Figure 2: Number of offenders under Probation Service supervision, 31 December 2007-2016 and March 2017 (Source: Table 4.7)

The court order caseload increased by 8% between the quarters ending March 2016 and 2017, with the Community Order (CO) caseload increasing by 4% and the Suspended Sentence Order (SSO) caseload increasing by 14%. The number of offenders starting COs fell by 5% over this period, while the number of offenders starting SSOs with requirements decreased by 1%.

There was a 6% increase in the caseload of offenders supervised before or after release from prison between the end of March 2016 and 2017, with offenders supervised on post release increasing by 10% alone. This is due to the introduction of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (ORA) on 1 February 2015 (see Guide) as the increase is largely among those sentenced to less than 12 months. Growth in this caseload has stabilised in recent quarters, but when compared to March 2016 there is a relatively large increase as the caseload was still rising in early 2016.

With regard to the number of requirements started under court orders, there have been particular increases in the combination of the rehabilitation requirement with both the unpaid work and curfew requirements for offenders starting SSOs. There has also been a significant increase in the use of the electronic monitoring requirement across both court orders.

Of the court orders terminated in the quarter ending March 2017, 72% of COs were terminated successfully (i.e., ran their full course or were terminated early for good progress); for the supervision periods of SSOs, 70% were terminated successfully over this period.

The number of court reports prepared by the Probation Service decreased by 10% between the quarter ending in March 2017 and the same quarter in the previous year, to reach 35,935, reflecting the long-term downward trend in the number of cases being dealt with by the courts. Around 72% of immediate custodial sentences proposed in the Pre-Sentence Reports resulted in that sentence being given in the latest 12 month period.

7. Licence Recalls

The number of licence recalls between January and March 2017 was 5,347.

This was a increase of 3% compare with the same period in 2016.

In the period between January and March 2017, 5,347 offenders were recalled for breaching the conditions of their licence, representing a increase of 3% compared with the same period in 2016 and an increase of 1% compared with the previous quarter.

Offenders that have been sentenced of more than a day in prison will receive at least 12 months supervision on release as a result of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014. This came into effect for those sentenced from 1st February 2015. Offenders that have been recalled for breaching conditions of their licence following a sentence of under 12 months are called ORA recalls.

Between January and March 2017, there were 2,085 recalls of offenders released from a sentence of under 12 months, a 18% increase compared with the same period in 2016 but only a 3% increase compared with the previous quarter.

Since the introduction of ORA, the number of non-ORA recalls has been falling. There were 3,262 non-ORA recalls between January and March 2017, a 5% decrease compared with the same period in 2016, and similar (less than 0% difference) when compared to the previous quarter.

The most common reason for offenders being recalled between January and March 2017 was for non-compliance, with 47% of recalls having non-compliance recorded as one of the reasons for recall. Further charges were recorded as a reason in 45% of licence recalls.

Between January and March 2016 there were 101 prisoners serving an IPP sentence and 59 offenders serving a life sentence who were re-released having previously been returned to custody for a breach of licence conditions.

Offenders not returned to custody

Of all those released on licence and recalled to custody due to breaching the conditions of their licence between April 1999 and March 2017, there were 1,520 who had not been returned to custody by the end of June 2017. This means the proportion of prisoners not returned to custody over this period is 0.6%, which is constant compared to previous years.

A further 18 offenders had not been returned to custody as of 30 June 2017 after recall between 1984 and April 1999, meaning the total number of offenders not returned to custody at the end of June 2017 was 1,538. These figures include some offenders believed to be dead or living abroad but who have not been confirmed as dead or deported.

Of the 1,538 not returned to custody by 30 June 2017, 230 had originally been serving a prison sentence for violence against the person offences and a further 50 for sexual offences.

Further information

This publication presents quarterly data trends. For annual figures, and longer-term trends, please refer to our annual bulletin published in July each year.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

- A ‘Guide to Offender Management Statistics’, which provides comprehensive information about data sources and quality, as well as key legislative changes.
- A document outlining the ‘Users of Offender Management Statistics’
- A set of data tables, covering each section of this bulletin, including a prison population data tool.

National Statistics status

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value. All official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: Tel: 020 3334 3536 Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice: Nick Mavron, Head of Prison, Probation, Reoffending and PbR Statistics Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Next update: 26 October 2017 URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

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